Bullied on Facebook? Don't Delete the Evidence.

There is no question that cyberbullying has taken front seat to the generic term, "bullying" Bullying is still bullying, of course but when it becomes cyber, the bullying then becomes more pervasive, which means the bullying becomes more widespread not just limited for example, to the school, or a small group within the school.  The more pervasive the more dangerous. So the questions begs to be answered. Does Facebook have a policy on bullying?  Yes and they even address hate speech. But let's look at their bullying policy:


Facebook offers these tools to help you deal with bullying. Depending on the seriousness of the situation:

• Unfriend — Only your Facebook friends can contact you through Facebook chat or post messages on your Wall (timeline).
• Block— This will prevent the person from seeing your information, including posts and updates — even if they’re a friend of friends — or contacting you in any way on Facebook.
• Report abusive content and fake / impostor profiles (timelines) to Facebook.

Also, the best protection against bullying is to learn how to recognize it and how to stop it. Here are some tips about what you should — and shouldn’t — do:

• Don’t respond. Typically, bullies want to get a response — don’t give them one.
• Don’t keep it a secret. Use Facebook's Trusted Friend tool to send a copy of the abusive content to someone you trust who can help you deal with the bullying. This will also generate a report to Facebook.
• Do document and save. If the attacks persist, you may need to report the activity to an Internet service provider and they will want to see the messages.

The most important point here is DO DOCUMENT and SAVE.  So many kids and parents are unaware that before you delete and block. Document and Save.  The reason is, of the bullying becomes criminal [according to state statute], if you delete then you have no physical evidence.  And law enforcement will not build a case if there is no physical evidence of any sort.  Some parents think that a one can just subpoena records.  Not true.  If there is an ongoing case, that has been opened by law enforcement or by the State Attorney's or District Attorney, then subpoena's are used to gather additional evidence. Lawyers also have a tough time in obtaining evidence from entities like Facebook just to build their case.  It costs money and court time and lawyers want to see evidence.  So if your child,or if you as an adult are being bullied, save, save, save.